Stark may not have been the original author of the phrase. Vivre Libre ou Mourir ("Live free or die") was a popular motto of the French Revolution, which the politician Antoine Barnave had engraved on his buttons.

Freeadjective, freer, freest.1. enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery:Samuel L. Jackson is a free man but his ancestors were not — they were slaves.2. enjoying political autonomy, as a people or country not under foreign rule; independent.As in "England’s not the boss of us and hasn’t been since 1776!"3. able to do something at will; at liberty:I can either go for a hike in the Blue Hills today OR a nice ride on my NEW trike. I'm free to choose. 4. clear of obstructions or obstacles, as a road or corridor:The hallway is now free of stacked books and old paintings. //snort—yeah, that'll happen//

If we want to live amongst our fellow humans, and most of us do, we’ve responsibilities to the general society. At least we do if we want to kick chaos to the curb and enjoy a few conveniences. Such as, ya know, the option of tuition-free education for our children (until they’re 17 anyway), paved, plowed roads for our cars to motor down, street lights, police, military, fire departments, etc.

So then, we all have to pay into a fund (*shock, horror* taxes!) to make sure we can keep the wheels of society’s 18 wheeler lubed. That and follow some handy dandy rules which help us be sorta/kinda civilized. You know, like don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t be a dick. Oopsie, I guess that last one’s a bit difficult for some folk.

The video comes from Mark Follman at Mother Jones, who's lately documented the antics of Texas Open Carry activists who think they're a bunch of nice guys who just happen to carry assault rifles around town because they can, and it's not their fault if the bitchy moms they shoot in effigy or sit next to in these restaurants feel bullied or intimidated, because freedom, goddamnit.

Maybe the open carry asswipes could walk their talk and really live free or die like the five individuals profiled in this National Geographic show.

Live Free or Die explores one of America’s most remote subcultures, following five people who have left the modern world behind to live in backwoods and swamps where they hunt their own food, build their own shelters, and survive only on what they can produce with their own two hands and sharp intuition.